Financing Public Schools FY 2019-20

Three bills that were enacted during the 2019 legislative session significantly affected the financing of public schools in Colorado:

Senate Bill 19-246 amended the Public School Finance Act of 1994 to provide funding for school districts in FY 2019-20. The bill was signed by the Governor on May 10, 2019, and became effective on that date.

Senate Bill 19-207 (the “Long Bill”), appropriated most of the state aid distributed to school districts.

House Bill 19-1262 modified the school finance formula to provide full per pupil funding for students enrolled in a full-day kindergarten (FDK) program.

This memorandum summarizes the primary funding changes for school finance contained in these three bills. The information contained in this memorandum is based on the combined impact of the three bills, updated with the most recent data available, and may not always match estimates provided in past fiscal notes. Estimates in this memorandum will be adjusted during the 2020 legislative session based on actual pupil counts and local property tax collections.

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